WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After moving to the downside early in the session, stocks have regained some ground over the course of the trading day on Thursday. The major averages have climbed well off their lows of the session, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq briefly reaching positive territory.
Currently, the major averages are posting modest losses. The Dow is down 194.05 points or 0.4 percent at 49,468.61, the S&P 500 is down 17.09 points or 0.3 percent at 6,864.22 and the Nasdaq is down 41.09 points or 0.2 percent at 22,712.54.
The initial weakness on Wall Street partly reflected a negative reaction to earnings news from retail giant Walmart (WMT).
Walmart reported fourth quarter results that exceeded analyst estimates but provided weaker than expected earnings guidance for the current year.
However, while shares of Walmart saw notable pre-market weakness, the company's stock has jumped by 1.3 percent in regular trading.
Traders may also be reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of closely watched readings on consumer price inflation on Friday. The data could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates.
The minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting noted a number of participants judged further rate cuts may not be warranted until there was clear indication that the progress of disinflation was firmly back on track.
In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department released a report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell by much more than expected in the week ended February 14th.
The Labor Department said initial jobless claims slid to 206,000, a decrease of 23,000 from the previous week's revised level of 229,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to slip to 225,000 from the 227,000 originally reported for the previous week.
A separate report released by the Commerce Department showed the U.S. trade deficit unexpectedly widened in the month of December due to a surge in imports and a slump in exports.
Sector News
Airline stocks have shown a substantial move to the downside on the day, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index plummeting by 3.6 percent.
Significant weakness is also visible among biotechnology stocks, as reflected by the 1.7 percent loss being posted by the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index.
On the other hand, computer hardware stocks are seeing considerable strength, driving the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index up by 2.4 percent.
Gold stocks are also turning in a strong performance, resulting in a 1.9 percent jump by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher on Thursday, with several markets still closed for holidays. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index climbed by 0.6 percent, while South Korea's Kospi surged by 3.1 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets have moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index is down by 0.9 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.6 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.5 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries have climbed off their worst levels but continue to see modest weakness. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 1.1 basis points at 4.090 percent.
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